The chancellor of Oxford University has hit out at the ‘hypocrisy’ around protests to remove a statue of imperialist Cecil Rhodes.
Lord Chris Patten, who has no power to remove the Rhodes statue at Oxford University’s Oriel College, said a trust set up after the mining magnate’s death pays for the education of more than a dozen African students at the prestigious university each year.
But he also called for a ‘sensible discussion’ over the removal of Rhodes’ statue, which has become a focal point amid continuing anti-racism protests from the Black Lives Matter movement – who at the weekend toppled a statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol.
It follows protesters from the revitalised ‘Rhodes Must Fall’ campaign gathering at the university last night and an invitation by Oxford City Council’s leader for the college to apply for planning permission to have the statue removed.
Meanwhile, concern continues that Oriel College chiefs may be reluctant to remove the statue after furious donors threatened to withdraw funding worth more than £100 million if it was taken down, as revealed by a leaked report in 2016.
Commenting on the protests, Lord Patten, who was the last Governor of Hong Kong from 1992 to 1997 and Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1992, told BBC Radio Four’s Today Programme: ‘Firstly I am very pleased the demonstrations were peaceful and secondly I don’t make the decision on whether the statue comes down.
The chancellor of Oxford University has hit out at the ‘hypocrisy’ around protests to remove a statue of imperialist Cecil Rhodes. Pictured: Protesters gather in front of Oriel College calling for the statue to be removed
Lord Chris Patten (pictured left), who has no power to remove the Rhodes statue (pictured right), located at Oxford University’s Oriel College, said a trust set up after the mining magnate’s death pays for the education of more than a dozen African students at the prestigious college each year.
Last night more than 1,000 protesters (pictured) gathered in Oxford’s High Street – without any pretence at social distancing – in the hope of seeing the statue tumble
‘I think there should be a proper and engaged argument and I hope it’s one about symbols and one which doesn’t avoid an argument about more fundamental issues which touch on Black Lives Matter, like education, like public housing, like public health.
‘So yes, we should have that discussions and it’s welcome that so many people in that decision are themselves Rhodes scholars.’
He also responded to calls by former Oxford student Doctor Rahul Rao, who was himself a Rhodes Scholar and is now a professor of politics at SOAS University in London, for the statue to be removed.
Lord Patten said: ‘I am delighted he was able to have an education at Oxford and I’m not holding that against him.
‘But what I am saying is that for me there is a bit of hypocrisy, as Mary Beard said the last time round, in Oxford taking money for 100 scholars, 100 schools, one-fifth from Africa, and then saying we want to throw the Rhodes statue into the River Thames.’
The Cecil Rhodes Trust was set up in 1902 in the will of Cecil Rhodes, a politician, businessman and mining magnate who founded the De Beers Consolidated Mining diamond firm – which mined using slave labour – in South Africa in 1888.
The trust is a global organisation which offers scholarships to non-British students at Oxford University.
But Rhodes, a British imperialist who wanted to continue British rule in South Africa, has been criticised by modern historians as a white-supremacist – having believed that the British were ‘the first race in the world, and that the more of the world we inhabit the better it is for the human race’.
Lord Patten told Radio Four that he had previously publicly backed the Cecil Rhodes Trust following a meeting with anti-apartheid campaigner and South African Prime Minister Nelson Mandela.
He said he had been there when the late Mandela signed the agreement to set up the Mandela Rhodes Foundation, a leadership development programme for Africa, was established in 2003 by agreement between Mr Nelson Mandela and the Rhodes Trust.
He said Mr Mandela had said at the time ‘Cecil Rhodes, you and I are going to have to work together now.’
But calls have continued to grow for the removal of the statue from the Rhodes Must Fall campaign, which originally started in 2015 at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, where students successfully campaigned for his statue to be removed.
The campaign has spread across other areas where a statue of him stands, including at Oxford University’s Oriel College.
But the college decided to keep the statue in 2016.
Members of the Oxford anti-fascists were outside Oriel College to demand the statue of Cecil Rhodes is removed ahead of a Black Lives Matter protest in the city this evening
At the time Daily Telegraph reported that the statue had been kept in place after furious donors threatened to withdraw gifts and bequests worth more than £100 million if it was taken down.
The governing body of Oriel College, which owns the statue, ruled out its removal after being warned that £1.5m worth of donations had already been cancelled and others had threatened to remove the college from their will if the statue was removed, according to a leaked report.
But the Rhodes Must Fall campaign has been newly revived among continuing action by the Black Lives Matter movement, who are protesting the death of George Floyd in America.
Thousands of people have signed two new petitions calling for the statue of colonialist Rhodes at Oriel College to be taken down.
Meanwhile, Susan Brown, leader of Oxford City Council, has expressed her support for the movement, stating she has a ‘great deal of sympathy’ for the newly-revived Rhodes Must Fall campaign.
At least 26 councillors in total have called on the statue to be removed ahead of tonight’s protest.
In a statement published yesterday, Ms Brown said: ‘I’m clear in my support for the Black Lives Matter movement and I have a great deal of sympathy with the Rhodes Must Fall campaign.
‘The question of statues and their historical context is not a simple matter, but sometimes acts of symbolism are important.
A vocal but unsuccessful five-year movement for his removal – calling itself ‘Rhodes Must Fall’ – has now found itself reborn and firing on rocket fuel after the death of George Floyd at the hands (and knee) of a Minneapolis police officer
Ndjodi Ndeunyema, an Oxford University law student and a former Rhodes scholar, organised yesterday’s Oxford rally
‘I know my views are shared by a majority of my fellow councillors.’
She continued: ‘I have written to Oriel College to invite them to apply for planning permission to remove the statue, as it is a Grade II-listed building.
‘Typically such actions are only allowed in the most exceptional of circumstances.
Doctor Rahul Rao, a former Oxford student who is now a professor of politics at SOAS University in London, backed calls for the statue to be removed
‘But these are exceptional circumstances, and as a city council we are keen to work with Oriel to help them find the right balance between the laws that protect our historic buildings and the moral obligation to reflect on the malign symbolism of this statue.’
Today, Doctor Rahul Rao, a former Oxford student who is now a professor of politics at SOAS University in London, backed calls for the statue to be removed.
He told Radio Four: ‘I think protesters made their argument very eloquently.
‘They’ve pointed to Rhodes’ participation or really his pioneering of some of the ideas that gave us the system of apartheid in South Africa and his plundering of resources in southern Africa.
‘His glorification in South Africa and more recently the UK has been seen as a massive problem.’